A review by johnw613
The Crown in Crisis: Countdown to the Abdication by Alexander Larman

informative tense fast-paced

4.25

An exhaustively researched (and footnoted—the audiobook includes recitations of the narrative footnotes) examination of the months leading up to the abdication of King Edward VIII in 1936. The most sought after bachelor of his era and a textbook Peter Pan hedonist, Edward renounced his birthright for the woman he loved, whose own thirst for status was often at odds with her later husband’s determination. The intrigue that hamstrung Parliament is traced in some detail, as is the terror felt by George VI at having to fulfill a role he never saw himself assuming.